Well Construction Communication and Control

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods regarding a first processing system operable to receive a job plan developed by a second processing system, and implement the job plan, including generating commands for an equipment controller based on the job plan. The first processing system is operable to transmit, through a network, the commands to the controller for execution by the controller. The first processing system is operable to iteratively (i) monitor, through the network, current conditions of the well construction system during execution of commands by the controller; (ii) update the implementation of the job plan, including generating updated commands for the controller based on the job plan and the current well construction system conditions when the current well construction system conditions indicate a deviation from the implementation; and (iii) transmit, through the network, the updated commands to the controller for execution by the controller.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the drilling of oil and gas wells, drilling rigs are used to create awell by drilling a wellbore into a formation to reach oil and gasdeposits (e.g., hydrocarbon deposits). During the drilling process, asthe depth of the wellbore increases, so does the length and weight ofthe drillstring. A drillstring may include sections of drill pipe, abottom hole assembly, and other tools for creating a well. The length ofthe drillstring may be increased by adding additional sections of drillpipe as the depth of the wellbore increases. Various components of adrilling rig can be used to advance the drillstring into the formation.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that arefurther described below in the detailed description. This summary is notintended to identify indispensable features of the claimed subjectmatter, nor is it intended for use as an aid in limiting the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

The present disclosure introduces an apparatus including a firstprocessing system having a processor and a memory including computerprogram code. The first processing system is operable to receive a jobplan developed by a second processing system, and implement the jobplan, including generating commands for one or more equipmentcontrollers based on the job plan. The one or more equipment controllersare operable to control equipment of a well construction system. Thefirst processing system is also operable to transmit, through a network,the commands to the one or more equipment controllers for execution ofthe commands by the one or more equipment controllers. The firstprocessing system is also operable to iteratively: (i) monitor, throughthe network, current conditions of the well construction system duringexecution of commands by the one or more equipment controllers; (ii)update the implementation of the job plan, including generating updatedcommands for the one or more equipment controllers based on the job planand on the current conditions of the well construction system when thecurrent conditions of the well construction system indicate a deviationfrom the implementation; and (iii) transmit, through the network, theupdated commands to the one or more equipment controllers for executionof the updated commands by the one or more equipment controllers.

The present disclosure also introduces an apparatus including a network,one or more equipment controllers communicatively coupled to the networkand operable to control equipment of a well construction system, and afirst processing system communicatively coupled to the network andhaving a processor and a memory including computer program code. Thefirst processing system is operable to develop a job plan based oncurrent conditions of the well construction system, and to transmit thejob plan through the network. The apparatus also includes a secondprocessing system communicatively coupled to the network and having aprocessor and a memory including computer program code. The secondprocessing system is operable to receive the job plan through thenetwork, implement the job plan including generating commands for theone or more equipment controllers based on the job plan, and transmit,through the network, the commands to the one or more equipmentcontrollers for execution of the commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers. The second processing system is also operable toiteratively: (a) monitor, through the network, the current conditions ofthe well construction system during execution of commands by the one ormore equipment controllers; (b) update the implementation of the jobplan, including generating updated commands for the one or moreequipment controllers based on the job plan and on the currentconditions of the well construction system when the current conditionsof the well construction system indicate a deviation from theimplementation; and (c) transmit, through the network, the updatedcommands to the one or more equipment controllers for execution of theupdated commands by the one or more equipment controllers.

The present disclosure also introduces a method including operating afirst processing system comprising a processor and a memory includingcomputer program code. Operating the first processing system includesreceiving a job plan developed by a second processing system,implementing the job plan including generating commands for one or moreequipment controllers based on the job plan. The one or more equipmentcontrollers are operable to control equipment of a well constructionsystem. Operating the first processing also includes transmitting,through a network, the commands to the one or more equipment controllersfor execution of the commands by the one or more equipment controllers.Operating the first processing also includes iteratively: (i)monitoring, through the network, current conditions of the wellconstruction system during execution of commands by the one or moreequipment controllers; (ii) updating the implementation of the job plan,including generating updated commands for the one or more equipmentcontrollers based on the job plan and on the current conditions of thewell construction system when the current conditions of the wellconstruction system indicate a deviation from the implementation; and(iii) transmitting, through the network, the updated commands to the oneor more equipment controllers for execution of the updated commands bythe one or more equipment controllers.

These and additional aspects of the present disclosure are set forth inthe description that follows, and/or may be learned by a person havingordinary skill in the art by reading the material herein and/orpracticing the principles described herein. At least some aspects of thepresent disclosure may be achieved via means recited in the attachedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is understood from the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasizedthat, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, variousfeatures are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the variousfeatures may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity ofdiscussion.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of apparatus according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of apparatus according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of apparatus according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of apparatus according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of apparatus according to one or more aspects of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides manydifferent embodiments, or examples, for implementing different featuresof various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangementsare described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, ofcourse, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the various examples. This repetition is for simplicity andclarity, and does not in itself dictate a relationship between thevarious embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

Systems and methods and/or processes according to one or more aspects ofthe present disclosure may be used or performed in connection with wellconstruction at a wellsite, such as construction of a wellbore to obtainhydrocarbons (e.g., oil and/or gas) from a formation, including drillingthe wellbore. For example, some aspects of the present disclosure may bedescribed in the context of drilling a wellbore in the oil and gasindustry, although one or more aspects of the present disclosure mayalso or instead be used in other systems. Various subsystems used inconstructing the wellsite may have sensors and/or controllablecomponents that are communicatively coupled to one or more equipmentcontrollers (ECs). An EC can include a programmable logic controller(PLC), an industrial computer, a personal computer based controller, asoft PLC, the like, and/or an example controller configured and operableto (1) perform sensing of an environmental status and/or (2) controlequipment. Sensors and various other components may transmit sensor dataand/or status data to an EC, and controllable components may receivecommands from an EC to control operations of the controllablecomponents. One or more aspects disclosed herein may permitcommunication between ECs of different subsystems through virtualnetworks and/or a common data bus. Sensor data and/or status data may becommunicated between ECs of different subsystems through virtualnetworks and a common data bus. Additionally, a coordinated controllercan implement control logic to issue commands to various ones of the ECsthrough the virtual networks and common data bus to thereby controloperations of one or more controllable components. Additional details ofexample implementations are described below. A person having ordinaryskill in the art will readily understand that one or more aspects ofsystems and methods and/or processes disclosed herein may be used inother contexts, including other systems.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a well construction system 100 operable to drill awellbore 104 into a subsurface formation 102 at a wellsite in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present disclosure. A drillstring 106penetrates the wellbore 104 and includes a bottom hole assembly (BHA)108 that comprises or is mechanically and hydraulically coupled to adrill bit 110. The well construction system 100 includes a mast 114 (aportion of which is depicted in FIG. 1) extending from a rig floor 112that is erected over the wellbore 104. A top drive 116 is suspended fromthe mast 114 and is detachably, mechanically, and hydraulically coupledto the drillstring 106. The top drive 116 provides a rotational force(e.g., torque) to drive rotational movement of the drillstring 106 whenadvancing the drillstring 106 into the formation 102 to form thewellbore 104.

The top drive 116 is suspended from the mast 114 via hoisting equipment.The hoisting equipment includes a traveling block 118 with a hook orother means 120 for mechanically coupling the traveling block 118 to thetop drive 116. The hoisting equipment also includes a crown block 122attached to the mast 114, a drawworks 124 anchored to the rig floor 112and comprising a drum 125, a deadline anchor 126 attached to the rigfloor 112, and a drill line 128 extending from the deadline anchor 126,around the crown block 122 and the traveling block 118, and to thedrawworks 124 where the excess length is spooled around the drum 125.The portion of the drill line 128 extending from the deadline anchor 126to the crown block 122 is referred to as the deadline 130 (a portion ofwhich being depicted in FIG. 1 in phantom).

The crown block 122 and the traveling block 118 collectively comprise asystem of pulleys or sheaves around which the drill line 128 is reeved.The drawworks 124 comprises the drum 125 and an engine, motor, or otherprime mover (not shown). The drawworks 124 may also comprise a controlsystem and/or one or more brakes, such as a mechanical brake (e.g., adisk brake), an electrodynamic brake, and/or the like, although theprime mover and/or control system may instead provide the brakingfunction. The prime mover of the drawworks 124 drives the drum 125 torotate and reel in the drill line 128, which causes the traveling block118 and the top drive 116 to move upward away from the rig floor 112.The drawworks 124 can reel out the drill line 128 by a controlledrotation of the drum 125 using the prime mover and control system,and/or by disengaging the prime mover (such as with a clutch) anddisengaging and/or operating one or more brakes to control the releaseof the drill line 128. Unreeling the drill line 128 from the drawworks124 causes the traveling block 118 and the top drive 116 to movedownward toward the rig floor 112.

Implementations within the scope of the present disclosure includeland-based rigs, as depicted in FIG. 1, as well as offshoreimplementations. In offshore implementations, the hoisting equipment mayalso include a motion or heave compensator between the mast 114 and thecrown block 122 and/or between the traveling block 118 and the hook 120,among other possible additional components.

The top drive 116 includes a drive shaft 132, a pipe handling assembly134 with an elevator 136, and various other components not shown in FIG.1, such as a prime mover and a grabber. The drillstring 106 ismechanically coupled to the drive shaft 132 (e.g., with or without a subsaver between the drillstring 106 and the drive shaft 132). The primemover drives the drive shaft 132, such as through a gearbox ortransmission, to rotate the drive shaft 132 and, therefore, thedrillstring 106. The pipe handling assembly 134 and the elevator 136permit the top drive 116 to handle tubulars (e.g., single, double, ortriple stands of drill pipe and/or casing) that are not mechanicallycoupled to the drive shaft 132. The grabber includes a clamp that clampsonto a tubular when making up and/or breaking out a connection of atubular with the drive shaft 132. A guide system (e.g., rollers,rack-and-pinion elements, and/or other mechanisms) may include a guide140 affixed or integral to the mast 114, and a dolly 138 integral to orotherwise carried with the top drive 116 up and down the guide 140. Theguide system may provide torque reaction, such as to prevent rotation ofthe top drive 116 while the prime mover is rotating the drive shaft 132.The guide system may also or instead aid in maintaining alignment of thetop drive 116 with an opening 113 in the rig floor 112 through which thedrillstring 106 extends.

A drilling fluid circulation system circulates oil-based mud (OBM),water-based mud (WBM), and/or other drilling fluid to the drill bit 110.A pump 142 delivers drilling fluid through, for example, a dischargeline 144, a standpipe 146, and a hose 148 to a port 150 of the top drive116. The drilling fluid is then conducted through the drillstring 106 tothe drill bit 110, exiting into the wellbore 104 via ports in the drillbit 110. The drilling fluid then circulates upward through an annulus152 defined between the outside of the drillstring 106 and the wall ofthe wellbore 104 (or the wall of casing installed in the wellbore 104,if applicable). In this manner, the drilling fluid lubricates the drillbit 110 and carries formation cuttings up to the surface as the drillingfluid is circulated.

At the surface, the drilling fluid may be processed for recirculation.For example, the drilling fluid may flow through a blowout preventer 154and a bell nipple 156 that diverts the drilling fluid to a returnflowline 158. The return flowline 158 may direct the drilling fluid to ashale shaker 160 that removes at least large formation cuttings from thedrilling fluid. The drilling fluid may then be directed toreconditioning equipment 162, such as may remove gas and/or finerformation cuttings from the drilling fluid. The reconditioning equipment162 can include a desilter, a desander, a degasser, and/or othercomponents.

After treatment by the reconditioning equipment 162, the drilling fluidmay be conveyed to one or more mud tanks 164. Intermediate mud tanks mayalso be used to hold drilling fluid before and/or after the shale shaker160 and/or various ones of the reconditioning equipment 162. The mudtank(s) 164 can include an agitator to assist in maintaining uniformity(e.g., homogeneity) of the drilling fluid contained therein. A hopper(not depicted) may be disposed in a flowline between the mud tank(s) 164and the pump 142 to disperse an additive, such as caustic soda, in thedrilling fluid.

A catwalk 166 can be used to convey tubulars from a ground level to therig floor 112. The catwalk 166 has a horizontal portion 167 and aninclined portion 168 that extends between the horizontal portion 167 andthe rig floor 112. A skate 169 may be positioned in a groove and/orother alignment means in the horizontal and inclined portions of thecatwalk 166. The skate 169 can be driven along the groove by a rope,chain, belt, and/or other pulley system (not depicted), thereby pushingtubulars up the inclined portion 168 of the catwalk 166 to a position ator near the rig floor 112 for subsequent engagement by the elevator 136of the top drive 116 and/or other pipe handling means. However, othermeans for transporting tubulars from the ground to the rig floor 112 arealso within the scope of the present disclosure. One or more pipe racks(not shown) may also adjoin the horizontal portion 167 of the catwalk166, and may include or operate in conjunction with a tubular deliveryunit and/or other means for transferring tubulars to the horizontalportion 167 of the catwalk 166 in a mechanized and/or automated manner.

An iron roughneck 170 is also disposed on the rig floor 112. The ironroughneck 170 comprises a spinning system 172 and a torque wrenchcomprising a lower gripper 174 and an upper gripper 176. The ironroughneck 170 is moveable (e.g., in a translation movement 178) toapproach the drillstring 106 (e.g., for making up and/or breaking out aconnection of the drillstring 106) and to move clear of the drillstring106. The spinning system 172 applies low-torque spinning to threadedlyengage or disengage a threaded connection between tubulars of thedrillstring 106, and the torque wrench applies a higher torque toultimately make up or initially break out the threaded connection.

Manual, mechanized, and/or automated slips 180 are also disposed onand/or in the rig floor 112. The drillstring 106 extends through theslips 180. In mechanized and/or automated implementations of the slips180, the slips 180 can be actuated between open and closed positions. Inthe open position, the slips 180 permit advancement of the drillstring106 through the slips 180. In the closed position, the slips 180 clampthe drillstring 106 to prevent advancement of the drillstring 106,including with sufficient force to support the weight of the drillstring106 suspended in the wellbore 104.

To form the wellbore 104 (e.g., “make hole”), the hoisting equipmentlowers the top drive 116, and thus the drillstring 106 suspended fromthe top drive 116, while the top drive 116 rotates the drillstring 106.During this advancement of the drillstring 106, the slips 180 are in theopen position, and the iron roughneck 170 is clear of the drillstring106. When the upper end of the tubular in the drillstring 106 that ismade up to the top drive 116 nears the slips 180, the hoisting equipmentceases downward movement of the top drive 116, the top drive 116 ceasesrotating the drillstring 106, and the slips 180 close to clamp thedrillstring 106. The grabber of the top drive 116 clamps the upperportion of the tubular made up to the drive shaft 132. The drive shaft132 is driven via operation of the prime mover of the top drive 116 tobreak out the connection between the drive shaft 132 and the drillstring106. The grabber of the top drive 116 then releases the tubular of thedrillstring 106, and the hoisting equipment raises the top drive 116clear of the “stump” of the drillstring 106 extending upward from theslips 180.

The elevator 136 of the top drive 116 is then pivoted away from thedrillstring 106 towards another tubular extending up through the rigfloor 112 via operation of the catwalk 166. The elevator 136 and thehoisting equipment are then operated to grasp the additional tubularwith the elevator 136. The hoisting equipment then raises the additionaltubular, and the elevator 136 and the hoisting equipment are thenoperated to align and lower the bottom end of the additional tubular toproximate the upper end of the stump.

The iron roughneck 170 is moved 178 toward the drillstring 106, and thelower gripper 174 clamps onto the stump of the drillstring 106. Thespinning system 172 then rotates the suspended tubular to engage athreaded (e.g., male) connector with a threaded (e.g., female) connectorat the top end of the stump. Such spinning continues until achieving apredetermined torque, number of spins, vertical displacement of theadditional tubular relative to the stump, and/or other operationalparameters. The upper gripper 176 then clamps onto and rotates theadditional tubular with a higher torque sufficient to complete making upthe connection with the stump. In this manner, the additional tubularbecomes part of the drillstring 106. The iron roughneck 170 thenreleases the drillstring 106 and is moved 178 clear of the drillstring106.

The grabber of the top drive 116 then grasps the drillstring 106proximate the upper end of the drillstring 106. The drive shaft 132 ismoved into contact with the upper end of the drillstring 106 and isrotated via operation of the prime mover to make up a connection betweenthe drillstring 106 and the drive shaft 132. The grabber then releasesthe drillstring 106, and the slips 180 are moved into the open position.Drilling may then resume.

FIG. 1 also depicts a pipe handling manipulator (PHM) 182 and afingerboard 184 disposed on the rig floor 112, although otherimplementations within the scope of the present disclosure may includeone or both of the PHM 182 and the fingerboard 184 located elsewhere orexcluded. The fingerboard 184 provides storage (e.g., temporary storage)of tubulars 194, such that the PHM 182 can be operated to transfer thetubulars 194 from the fingerboard 184 for inclusion in the drillstring106 during drilling or tripping-in operations, instead of (or inaddition to) from the catwalk 166, and similarly for transferringtubulars 194 removed from the drillstring 106 to the fingerboard 184during tripping-out operations.

The PHM 182 includes arms and clamps 186 collectively operable forgrasping and clamping onto a tubular 194 while the PHM 182 transfers thetubular 194 to and from the drillstring 106, the fingerboard 184, andthe catwalk 166. The PHM 182 is movable in at least one translationdirection 188 and/or a rotational direction 190 around an axis of thePHM 182. The arms of the PHM 182 can extend and retract along direction192.

The tubulars 194 conveyed to the rig floor 112 via the catwalk 166 (suchas for subsequent transfer by the elevator 136 and/or the PHM 182 to thedrillstring 106 and/or the fingerboard 184) may be single joints and/ordouble- or triple-joint stands, such as may be assembled prior to beingfed onto the catwalk 166. In other implementations, the catwalk 166 mayinclude means for making/breaking the multi-joint stands.

The multi joint stands may also be made up and/or broken out viacooperative operation of two or more of the top drive 116, the drawworks124, the elevator 136, the catwalk 166, the iron roughneck 170, theslips 180, and the PHM 182. For example, the catwalk 166 may position afirst joint (drill pipe, casing, etc.) to extend above the rig floor 112or another orientation where the joint can be grasped by the elevator136. The top drive 116, the drawworks 124, and the elevator 136 may thencooperatively transfer the first joint into the wellbore 104, where theslips 180 may retain the first joint. The catwalk 166 may then positiona second joint that will be made up with the first joint. The top drive116, the drawworks 124, and the elevator 136 may then cooperativelytransfer the second joint to proximate the upper end of the first jointextending up from the slips 180. The iron roughneck 170 may then make upthe first and second joints to form a double stand. The top drive 116,the drawworks 124, the elevator 136, and the slips 180 may thencooperatively move the double stand deeper into the wellbore 104, andthe slips 180 may retain the double stand such that an upper end of thesecond joint extends upward. If the contemplated drilling, casing, orother operations are to utilize triple stands, the catwalk 166 may thenposition a third joint to extend above the rig floor 112, and the topdrive 116, the drawworks 124, and the elevator 136 may thencooperatively transfer the third joint to proximate the upper end of thesecond joint extending up from the slips 180. The iron roughneck 170 maythen make up the second and third joints to form a triple stand. The topdrive 116 (or the elevator 136) and the drawworks 124 may thencooperatively lift the double or triple stand out of the wellbore 104.The PHM 182 may then transfer the stand from the top drive 116 (or theelevator 136) to the fingerboard 184, where the stand may be storeduntil retrieved by the PHM 182 for the drilling, casing, and/or otheroperations. This process of assembling stands may generally be performedin reverse to disassemble the stands.

A power distribution center 196 is also at the wellsite. The powerdistribution center 196 includes one or more generators, one or moreAC-to-DC power converters, one or more DC-to-AC power inverters, one ormore hydraulic systems, one or more pneumatic systems, the like, or acombination thereof. The power distribution center 196 can distribute ACand/or DC electrical power to various motors, pumps, and othercomponents of the well construction system 100. Similarly, the powerdistribution center 196 can distribute pneumatic and/or hydraulic powerto various components of the well construction system 100. Components ofthe power distribution center 196 can be centralized in the wellconstruction system 100 or can be distributed among several locationswithin the well construction system 100.

A control center 198 is also at the wellsite. The control center 198houses one or more processing systems of a network of the wellconstruction system 100. Details of the network of the well constructionsystem 100 are described below. Generally, various equipment of the wellconstruction system 100, such as the drilling fluid circulation system,the hoisting equipment, the top drive 116, the PHM 182, the catwalk 166,etc., can have various sensors and controllers to monitor and controlthe operations of that equipment. Additionally, the control center 198can receive information regarding the formation and/or downholeconditions from modules and/or components of the BHA 108.

The BHA 108 can comprise various components with various capabilities,such as measuring, processing, and storing information. The BHA 108 mayinclude a telemetry device 109 for communications with the controlcenter 198. The BHA 108 shown in FIG. 1 is depicted as having a modularconstruction with specific components in certain modules. However, theBHA 108 may be unitary, or select portions thereof may be modular. Themodules and/or components therein may be positioned in a variety ofconfigurations within the BHA 108.

For example, the BHA 108 may comprise one or moremeasurement-while-drilling (MWD) modules 200 that may include toolsoperable to measure wellbore trajectory, wellbore temperature, wellborepressure, and/or other example properties. The BHA 108 may comprise oneor more logging-while-drilling (LWD) modules 202 that may include toolsoperable to measure formation parameters and/or fluid properties, suchas resistivity, porosity, permeability, sonic velocity, optical density,pressure, temperature, and/or other example properties. The BHA 108 maycomprise one or more sampling-while-drilling (SWD) modules 204 forcommunicating a formation fluid through the BHA 108 and obtaining asample of the formation fluid. The SWD module(s) 204 may comprisegauges, sensor, monitors and/or other devices that may also be utilizedfor downhole sampling and/or testing of a formation fluid.

A person having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand thatwell construction systems other than the example depicted in FIG. 1 mayinclude more, less, and/or different equipment than as described hereinand/or depicted in the figures, but may still be within the scope of thepresent disclosure. Additionally, various equipment and/or systems ofthe well construction systems within the scope of the present disclosuremay include more, less, and/or different equipment than as describedherein and/or depicted in the figures. For example, various engines,motors, hydraulics, actuators, valves, or the like that are notdescribed herein and/or depicted in the figures may be included in otherimplementations of equipment and/or systems also within the scope of thepresent disclosure. The well construction systems within the scope ofthe present disclosure may also be implemented as land-based rigs oroffshore rigs.

The equipment and/or systems of well construction systems within thescope of the present disclosure may be transferrable via land-basedmovable vehicles, such as trucks and/or trailers. For example, the mast114, the PHM 182 (and associated frame), the drawworks 124, thefingerboard 184, the power distribution center 196, the control center198, the mud tanks 164 (and associated pump 142, shale shaker 160, andreconditioning equipment 162), and the catwalk 166, among otherexamples, may each be transferrable by a separate truck and trailercombination. Some of the equipment and/or systems may be collapsible toaccommodate transfer on a trailer. For example, the mast 114, thefingerboard 184, the catwalk 166, and/or other equipment and/or systemsmay be telescopic, folding, and/or otherwise collapsible. Otherequipment and/or systems may be collapsible by other techniques, or maybe separable into subcomponents for transportation purposes.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of at least a portion of another exampleimplementation of a well construction system 250 operable to drill awellbore 104 into a subsurface formation 102 at a wellsite in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Some of thecomponents and operation of those components are common (as indicated byusage of common reference numerals) between the well constructionsystems 100 and 250 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. Hence, descriptionof the common components may be omitted here for brevity, although aperson of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand thecomponents and their operation in the well construction system 250 ofFIG. 2.

A swivel 256 and kelly 254 are suspended from the mast 114 via thehoisting equipment. The hook 120 mechanically couples with the swivel256, although other means for coupling the traveling block 118 with theswivel 256 are also within the scope of the present disclosure. Thekelly 254 is detachably mechanically coupled to the drillstring 106. Akelly spinner is between the kelly 254 and the swivel 256, although notspecifically illustrated. The kelly 254 extends through an opening 253through a master bushing (not specifically depicted) in the rig floor112 and a kelly bushing 258 that engages the master bushing and thekelly 254. The rig floor 112 includes a rotary table that includes themaster bushing and a prime mover. The prime mover of the rotary table,through the master bushing and the kelly bushing 258, provides arotational force to drive rotational movement of the drillstring 106 toform the wellbore 104.

Similar to as described above with respect to FIG. 1, the pump 142delivers drilling fluid through, for example, the discharge line 144,the standpipe 146, and the hose 148 to a port 257 of the swivel 256. Thedrilling fluid is then conducted through the kelly 254 and thedrillstring 106 to the drill bit 110.

Although not illustrated, tongs, a cathead, and/or a spinning wrench orwinch spinning system may be used for making up and/or breaking outconnections of tubulars. A winch spinning system may include a chain,rope, or the like that is driven by a winch. The spinning wrench orwinch spinning system may be operable for applying low-torque spinningto make up and/or break out a threaded connection between tubulars ofthe drillstring 106. For example, with a winch spinning system, a humanroughneck can wrap a chain around a tubular, and the chain is pulled bythe winch to spin the tubular to make up and/or break out a connection.The tongs and cathead can be used to apply higher torque to make upand/or break out the threaded connection. For example, a human roughneckcan manually apply tongs to tubulars, and the cathead mechanicallycoupled to the tongs (such as by chains) can apply a high torque to makeup and/or break out the threaded connection.

Removable slips may be used in securing the drillstring 106 when makingup and/or breaking out a connection. For example, a human operator mayplace the slips between the drillstring 106 and the rig floor 112 and/orthe master bushing of the rotary table to suspend the drillstring 106 inthe wellbore 104 during make up and/or break out.

To form the wellbore 104 (e.g., “make hole”), the hoisting equipmentlowers the drillstring 106 while the prime mover of the rotary tablerotates the drillstring 106 via the master bushing and kelly bushing258. During this advancement of the drillstring 106, removable slips areremoved from the opening 253, and the tongs are clear of the drillstring106. When the upper end of the kelly 254 nears the kelly bushing 258and/or rig floor 112, the hoisting equipment ceases downward movement ofthe kelly 254, and the rotary table ceases rotating the drillstring 106.The hoisting equipment raises the kelly 254 until the upper end of thedrillstring 106 protrudes from the master bushing and/or rig floor 112,and the slips are placed in the opening 253 between the drillstring 106and the master bushing and/or rig floor 112 to clamp the drillstring106. When the kelly 254 is raised, a flange at the bottom of the kelly254 can grasp the kelly bushing 258 to clear the kelly bushing 258 fromthe master bushing. Human operators can then break out the connectionbetween the kelly 254 and the drillstring 106 using the tongs andcathead for applying a high torque, and the prime mover of the rotarytable can cause the drillstring 106 to rotate to spin out of theconnection to the kelly 254, for example.

A tubular may be positioned in preparation to being made up to the kelly254 and the drillstring 106. For example, a tubular may be manuallytransferred to a mouse hole in the rig floor 112. Other methods andsystems for transferring a tubular may be used.

With the connection between the drillstring 106 and the kelly 254 brokenout, the hoisting equipment maneuvers the kelly 254 into a position suchthat a connection between the kelly 254 and the tubular projectingthrough the mouse hole can be made up. Operators can then make up theconnection between the kelly 254 and the tubular by spinning the kelly254 with the kelly spinner and by using the tongs and cathead. Thehoisting equipment then raises and maneuvers the kelly 254 and attachedtubular into a position such that a connection between the attachedtubular and drillstring 106 can be made up. Operators can then make upthe connection between the tubular and the drillstring 106 by clampingone of the tongs to the tubular and spinning the kelly 254 with thekelly spinner and by using the tongs and cathead. The slips are thenremoved from the opening 253, and the drillstring 106 and kelly 254 arelowered by the hoisting equipment until the drill bit 110 engages theone or more subsurface formations 102. The kelly bushing 258 engages themaster bushing and the kelly 254. Drilling may then resume.

A power distribution center 196 and control center 198 are also at thewellsite as described above. The control center 198 houses one or moreprocessing systems of a network of the well construction system 250.Details of the network of the well construction system 250 are describedbelow. Generally, various equipment of the well construction system 250,such as the drilling fluid circulation system, the hoisting equipment,the rotary table, etc., can have various sensors and controllers tomonitor and control the operations of that equipment. Additionally, thecontrol center 198 can receive information regarding the formationand/or downhole conditions from modules and/or components of the BHA108. The BHA 108 can comprise various components with variouscapabilities, such as measuring, processing, and storing information, asdescribed above.

A person having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that awell construction system may include more or fewer equipment than asdescribed herein and/or depicted in the figures. Additionally, variousequipment and/or systems of the example implementation of the wellconstruction system 250 depicted in FIG. 2 may include more or fewerequipment. For example, various engines, motors, hydraulics, actuators,valves, or the like that were not described above and/or depicted inFIG. 2 may be included in other implementations of equipment and/orsystems also within the scope of the present disclosure.

Additionally, the well construction system 250 of FIG. 2 may beimplemented as a land-based rig or on an offshore rig. One or moreaspects of the well construction system 250 of FIG. 2 may beincorporated in and/or omitted from a land-based rig or an offshore rig.Such modifications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

One or more equipment and/or systems of the well construction system 250of FIG. 2 may be transferrable via a land-based movable vessel, such asa truck and/or trailer. For example, the mast 114, the drawworks 124,the fingerboard 184, the power distribution center 196, the controlcenter 198, mud tanks 164 (and associated pump 142, shale shaker 160,and reconditioning equipment 162), and/or other examples may each betransferrable by a separate truck and trailer combination. Some of theequipment and/or systems may be collapsible to accommodate transfer on atrailer. For example, the mast 114, the fingerboard 184, and/or otherequipment and/or systems may be telescopic, folding, and/or otherwisecollapsible. Other equipment and/or systems may be collapsible by othertechniques, or may be separable into subcomponents for transportationpurposes.

The well construction systems 100 and 250 of FIGS. 1 and 2,respectively, illustrate various example equipment and systems that maybe incorporated in a well construction system. Various other examplewell construction systems may include another combination of equipmentand systems described with respect to the well construction systems 100and 250 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, and may omit some equipmentand/or systems and/or include additional equipment and/or systems notspecifically described herein. Such well construction systems are withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of an operations network 300 according to one or moreaspects of the present disclosure. The physical network used toimplement the operations network 300 of FIG. 3 can have a networktopology, such as a bus topology, a ring topology, a star topology,and/or mesh topology, among other examples also within the scope of thepresent disclosure. The operations network 300 can include one or moreprocessing systems, such as one or more network appliances (like aswitch or other processing system), that are configured to implementvarious virtual networks, such as virtual local area networks (VLANs).Additionally, the operations network 300 can include one or moreprocessing systems, such as one or more network appliances (like aswitch or other processing system), that are configured with anintrusion detection system (IDS) to monitor traffic across theoperations network 300, such as may be in respective virtual networks.The IDS can alert personnel to potential cyber security breaches thatmay occur on the operations network 300.

The operations network 300 includes a configuration manager 302, whichmay be a software program instantiated and operable on one or moreprocessing systems, such as one or more network appliances. Theconfiguration manager 302 may be a software program written in andcompiled from a high-level programming language, such as C/C++ or thelike. As described in further detail below, the configuration manager302 is operable to translate communications from various communicationsprotocols to a common communication protocol and make the communicationstranslated to the common communication protocol available through acommon data bus, and vice versa. The common data bus may include anapplication program interface (API) of the configuration manager 302and/or a common data virtual network (VN-DATA) implemented on one ormore processing systems, such as network appliances like switches.

The configuration manager 302 can have predefined classes for objects toimplement the translations of communication. Instantiated objects in theconfiguration manager 302 for subsystems can be used to receivecommunications from the subsystems according to respective (and possiblydifferent) communication protocols implemented by the subsystems, and totranslate the communications to a common protocol, which is madeavailable on the common data bus, and vice versa. The classes can defineobjects at the subsystem level (e.g., drilling control system, drillingfluid circulation system, cementing system, etc.), the equipment level(e.g., top drive, drawworks, drilling fluid pump, etc.), and/or the datalevel (e.g., type of commands, sensor data, and/or status data). Hence,an object can be instantiated for each instance of a subsystem,equipment, and/or data type depending on how the class of the object wasdefined. Further, the classes can define objects based on thecommunication protocols to be implemented by the subsystems.Hypothetically, assuming two subsystems that are identical except thateach implements a different communication protocol, the configurationmanager 302 may instantiate objects for the subsystems from differentclasses that were defined based on the different communicationprotocols. Objects can be instantiated at set-up of the operationsnetwork 300 and/or by dynamically detecting ECs and/or subsystems.

As will become apparent from description below, using a configurationmanager, such as the configuration manager 302 in FIG. 3, may permitsimpler deployment of subsystems in a well construction system andassociated communications equipment, for example. The use of a softwareprogram compiled from a high-level language may permit deployment of anupdated version of a configuration manager when an additional,previously undefined subsystem is deployed, which may alleviatedeployment of physical components associated with the configurationmanager (e.g., when adding equipment/subsystems to the well constructionsystem). Further, applications that access data from the configurationmanager (e.g., through the common data bus) can be updated through asoftware update when new data becomes available by the addition of a newsubsystem, such that the updated application can consume data generatedby the new subsystem.

One or more processing systems of the operations network 300, such asone or more switches and/or other network appliances, are configured toimplement one or more subsystem virtual networks (e.g., VLANs), such asa first subsystem virtual network (VN-S1) 304, a second subsystemvirtual network (VN-S2) 306, and an Nth subsystem virtual network(VN-SN) 308 as illustrated in FIG. 3. More or fewer subsystem virtualnetworks may be implemented. The subsystem virtual networks (e.g., VN-S1304, VN-S2 306, and VN-SN 312) are logically separate from each other.The subsystem virtual networks can be implemented according to the IEEE802.1Q standard, another standard, or a proprietary implementation. Eachsubsystem virtual network can implement communications with the EC(s) ofthe respective subsystem based on various protocols, such as anEthernet-based network protocol (such as ProfiNET, OPC, OPC/UA, ModbusTCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDP multicast, Siemens S7 communication, or the like),a proprietary communication protocol, and/or another communicationprotocol. Further, the subsystem virtual networks can implementpublish-subscribe communications. The subsystem virtual networks canimplement the same protocol, each subsystem virtual network canimplement a different protocol, or a combination therebetween.

In the example depicted in FIG. 3, a first control subsystem (S1) 310, asecond control subsystem (S2) 312, and an N^(th) control subsystem (SN)314 are various control subsystems of a well construction system.Example subsystems include a drilling fluid circulation system (whichmay include mud pumps, valves, fluid reconditioning equipment, etc.), arig control system (which may include hoisting equipment, drillstringrotary mover equipment (such as a top drive and/or rotary table), a PHM,a catwalk, etc.), a managed pressure drilling system, a cementingsystem, a rig walk system, etc. A subsystem may include a single pieceof equipment, or may include multiple pieces of equipment that, forexample, that are jointly used to perform one or more functions. Eachsubsystem includes one or more ECs, which may control equipment of thesubsystem and/or receive sensor and/or status data from sensors and/orequipment of the subsystem. In the example depicted in FIG. 3, the S1310 includes a first S1 EC (EC-S1-1) 318, a second S1 EC (EC-S1-2) 320,a third S1 EC (EC-S1-3) 322, and a fourth S1 EC (EC-S1-4) 324. The S2312 includes a first S2 EC (EC-S2-1) 326 and a second S2 EC (EC-S2-2)328. The SN 314 includes a first SN EC (EC-SN-1) 330, a second SN EC(EC-SN-2) 332, and a third SN EC (EC-SN-3) 334. Other numbers of controlsubsystems may be implemented, and other numbers of ECs may be used ineach control subsystem. Some example control subsystems are describedbelow following description of various aspects of FIG. 3.

Each EC can implement logic to monitor and/or control one or moresensors and/or one or more controllable components of the respectivesubsystem. Each EC can include logic to interpret a command and/or otherdata, such as from one or more sensors or controllable components, andto communicate a signal to one or more controllable components of thesubsystem to control the one or more controllable components in responseto the command and/or other data. Each EC can also receive a signal fromone or more sensors, and can reformat the signal (e.g., from an analogsignal to a digital signal) into interpretable data. The logic for eachEC can be programmable, such as compiled from a low-level programminglanguage, such as described in IEC 61131 programming languages for PLCs,structured text, ladder diagram, functional block diagrams, functionalcharts, or the like.

As also illustrated in the example depicted in FIG. 3, a downhole system(DH) 316 is an example sensor system of the well construction system.The DH 316 includes surface equipment 336 that is communicativelycoupled to a bottom hole assembly (BHA) on a drillstring (e.g., the BHA108 of the drillstring 106 in FIGS. 1 and 2). The surface equipment 336receives (e.g., via telemetry equipment) data from the BHA, such as datarelating to conditions in the wellbore, conditions of the subterraneanformation 102, and/or conditions/parameters of components of the BHA,among other examples. The surface equipment 336 in this example does notcontrol operations of equipment. Other sensor subsystems may also orinstead be included in the operations network 300.

The operations network 300 includes a coordinated controller 338, whichmay be a software program instantiated and operable on one or moreprocessing systems, such as one or more network appliances. Thecoordinated controller 338 may be a software program written in andcompiled from a high-level programming language, such as C/C++ or thelike. The coordinated controller 338 can control operations ofsubsystems and communications as described in further detail below.

The operations network 300 also includes one or more human-machineinterfaces (HMIs), such as the HMI 340 in the example implementationdepicted in FIG. 3. The HMI 340 may be, comprise, or be implemented byone or more processing systems with a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen,a joystick, one or more control switches or toggles, one or morebuttons, a track-pad, a trackball, an image/code scanner, a voicerecognition system, a display device (such as a liquid crystal display(LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, and/or a cathode ray tube(CRT) display), a printer, speaker, and/or other examples. A humanoperator may use the HMI 340 for entry of commands to the coordinatedcontroller 338, and the HMI 340 may permit visualization or othersensory perception of various data, such as sensor data, status data,and/or other example data. The HMI may be a part of a control subsystem,and may issue commands through a subsystem virtual network to one ormore of the ECs of that subsystem virtual network without using thecoordinated controller 338. Each HMI can be associated with and controla single or multiple subsystems. An HMI may also or instead control anentirety of the system that includes each subsystem.

The operations network 300 also includes a historian 342, which may be adatabase maintained and operated on one or more processing systems, suchas database devices, for example. The historian 342 may be distributedacross multiple processing systems and/or may be maintained in memory,which can include external storage, such as a hard disk or drive. Thehistorian 342 may access sensor data and/or status data, which is storedand maintained in the historian 342.

The operations network 300 further includes one or more processapplications 344, which may each or collectively be a software programinstantiated and operable on one or more processing systems, such as oneor more server devices and/or other network appliances. The processapplications 344 may each be a software program written in and compiledfrom a high-level programming language, such as C/C++ or the like. Theprocess applications 344 may analyze data and output one or more jobplans to the coordinated controller 338, and/or may monitor data that isaccessible and/or consumed from the common data bus. An example of theprocess applications 344 can include a drilling operation plan, andanother example can include a cementing operation plan. Various jobplans can be self-contained, or can refer to one or more other plans.

Processing systems that process data for control of various subsystemscan have resources dedicated for such processing. For example, the oneor more processing systems on which the coordinated controller 338operates, the one or more processing systems on which the configurationmanager 302 operates, the one or more processing systems that areconfigured to implement the virtual networks, and/or other processingsystems may have resources dedicated to processing and communicatingcommands and/or sensor and/or status data used to determine appropriatecommands to issue. By dedicating resources in this manner, control ofprocesses in the well construction system may be real-time. Othercommunications and processing may be may be handled in a non-real-timemanner without using dedicated resources.

Referring to communications within the operations network 300, each ECwithin a control subsystem can communicate with other ECs in thatcontrol subsystem through the subsystem virtual network for that controlsubsystem (e.g., through processing systems configured to implement thesubsystem virtual network). Sensor data, status data, and/or commandsfrom an EC in a subsystem can be communicated to another EC within thatsubsystem through the subsystem virtual network for that subsystem, forexample, which may occur without intervention of the coordinatedcontroller 338. As an example from the example operations network 300depicted in FIG. 3, EC-S1-1 318 can communicate sensor data, statusdata, and/or commands to EC-S1-3 322 via VN-S1 304, and vice versa,without intervention of the coordinated controller 338. Other ECs withina subsystem can similarly communicate through their respective subsystemvirtual network.

Communications from a subsystem virtual network to another processingsystem outside of that subsystem and respective subsystem virtualnetwork can be translated from the communications protocol used for thatsubsystem virtual network to a common protocol (e.g., data distributionservice (DDS) protocol or other examples) by the configuration manager302. The communications that are translated to a common protocol mayalso be available to other processing systems via the common data bus,for example. Sensor data and/or status data from the control subsystems(e.g., S1 310, S2 312, and SN 314) may be available (e.g., directlyavailable) for consumption by ECs of different subsystems, thecoordinated controller 338, the HMI 340, the historian 342, and/or theprocess applications 344 via the common data bus. ECs may alsocommunicate sensor data and/or status data to another EC in anothersubsystem via the common data bus. For example, if a sensor in the S1310 communicates a signal to the EC-S1-1 318, and the data generatedfrom that sensor is also used by the EC-S2-1 326 in the S2 312 tocontrol one or more controllable components of the S2 312, the sensordata can be communicated from the EC-S1-1 318 via the VN-S1 304, thecommon data bus, and the VN-S2 306 to the EC-S2-1 326. Other ECs withinvarious subsystems can similarly communicate sensor data and/or statusdata through the common data bus to one or more other ECs in differentsubsystems. Similarly, for example, if one or more of the processapplications 344 consume data generated by a sensor coupled to theEC-S1-1 318 in the S1 310, the sensor data can be communicated from theEC-S1-1 318 via the VN-S1 304 and the common data bus, where the one ormore process applications 344 can access and consume the sensor data.

Similarly, communications from a sensor subsystem (e.g., the DH 316) canbe translated from the communications protocol used for that sensorsubsystem to the common protocol by the configuration manager 302. Thecommunications that are translated to a common protocol can be madeavailable to other processing systems via the common data bus, forexample. Similar to above, sensor data and/or status data from thesensor subsystem may be available (e.g., directly available) forconsumption by ECs of control subsystems, the coordinated controller338, the HMI 340, the historian 342, and/or the process applications 344via the common data bus.

The coordinated controller 338 can also implement logic to controloperations of the well construction system. The coordinated controller338 can monitor various statuses of components and/or sensors and canissue commands to various ECs to control the operation of thecontrollable components within one or more subsystems. Sensor dataand/or status data can be monitored by the coordinated controller 338via the common data bus, and the coordinated controller 338 can issuecommands to one or more ECs via the respective subsystem virtual networkof the EC.

The coordinated controller 338 can implement logic to generate commandsbased on a job plan from one or more process applications 344, and toissue those commands to one or more ECs in one or more subsystems. Theone or more process applications 344 may communicate a generalizedcommand to the coordinated controller 338, such as through the commondata bus. The generalized command may include an intended generaloperation (e.g., drilling into a formation) and defined constraints ofparameters that can affect the operation. For example, the definedconstraints for a drilling operation may include a desired function ofrate of penetration (ROP) of the drilling related to a top driverevolutions per minute (RPM) and weight on bit (WOB). The coordinatedcontroller 338 may interpret the generalized command and translate it tospecified commands (that are interpretable by appropriate ECs) that arethen issued to ECs to control various controllable components.

The coordinated controller 338 can further monitor the status of variousequipment and/or sensor data to optimize operations of equipment ofsubsystems based on the status and/or sensor data that is fed back. Byfeeding back and monitoring data of the environment of the wellconstruction, the coordinated controller 338 can continuously updatecommands to account for a changing environment. For example, if the ROPis greater or less than anticipated by the plan, the coordinatedcontroller 338 can calculate and issue commands to increase or decreaseone or both of top drive RPM and WOB.

Similarly, one or more of the process applications 344 can monitorstatus and/or sensor data available through the common data bus tomonitor a progression of an operation, and/or to update a job plan basedon a changing environment. If the operation progresses as planned withinthe various constraints, for example, the process applications 344 maynot update the job plan and can permit operations to continue based onthe job plan that is being implemented. If the operation progressesdifferently from what was planned, which may be indicated by the statusand/or sensor data, the process applications 344 may alter the job planand communicate the altered job plan to the coordinated controller 338for implementation.

FIG. 4 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method (400) for controlling operations of a wellconstruction system according to one or more aspects of the presentdisclosure. The method (400) may be performed by, utilizing, orotherwise in association with one or more features depicted in one ormore of FIGS. 1-3 described above, one or more features depicted inFIGS. 7 and/or 9 described below, and/or one or more features otherwisewithin the scope of the present disclosure. However, for the sake ofsimplicity, the method (400) is described below in the context of theexample implementation depicted in FIG. 3 and/or otherwise describedabove, and a person having ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe following description of the method (400) is also applicable orreadily adaptable for operations networks other than the exampleoperations network 300 depicted in FIG. 3.

The method (400) may include developing (402) a job plan, such as by oneor more of the process applications 344. The job plan may be developed(402) based on geological and/or geophysical data measured or otherwisebelieved to be descriptive of the target formation(s) of the well beingconstructed, and/or one or more geological, geophysical, and/orengineering databases. The developed (402) job plan may include detailspertaining to the trajectory of the well, the mud to be used duringdrilling, casing design, drill bits, BHA components, and the like.

The method (400) includes implementing (404) the job plan, such as bythe coordinated controller 338 as described above. Implementing (404)the job plan may comprise operating (and/or causing the operation of)the well construction system to form the well according to the developed(402) job plan. The operation details (e.g., WOB, top drive RPM, mudflow rate, etc.) may be determined during the development (402) and/orimplementation (404) of the job plan.

The method (400) also includes monitoring (406) status and/or sensordata, such as by one or more of the process applications 344 and thecoordinated controller 338, as the job operations continue. The method(400) also includes determining (408) whether the implementation of thejob plan should be updated based on the monitored (406) status and/orsensor data. The coordinated controller 338 may perform thedetermination (408). The determination (410) may be based on one or moreindications in (or derived from) the monitored (406) status and/orsensor data that the operations are deviating from an intendedprogression of the job plan implementation (404), and/or that theinitial job plan implementation (404) was faulty in light of new data.If the determination (408) is that the implementation will not beupdated, operations continue while monitoring (406) the status and/orsensor data, such as by the coordinated controller 338. If thedetermination (408) is that the implementation will be updated, theexisting job plan implementation (404) is updated (409) based on themonitored (406) status and/or sensor data, such as by the coordinatedcontroller 338. The status and/or sensor data monitoring (406) and joboperations then continue.

The method (400) also comprises determining (410) whether the job planshould be updated based on the monitored (406) status and/or sensordata. One or more of the process applications 344 may perform thedetermination (410). The determination (410) may be based on one or moreindications in (or derived from) the monitored (406) status and/orsensor data that the operations are deviating from an anticipatedprogression of the job plan, and/or that the initially developed (402)job plan was faulty in light of new data. If the determination (410) isthat the job plan will not be updated, operations continue whilemonitoring (406) the status and/or sensor data, such as by one or moreof the process applications 344. If the determination (410) is that thejob plan will be updated, the job plan is updated (based on themonitored (406) status and/or sensor data) and implemented (411), suchas by one or more of the process applications 344. The status and/orsensor data monitoring (406) and job operations then continue. Themethod (400) may continue until the initially developed (402) or updated(411) job plan is completed.

Developing a job plan may be calculation intensive, and may thus bedeveloped over a longer period of time, which may not be real-time tothe operations. The coordinated controller 338 (e.g., the one or moreprocessing systems on which the coordinated controller 338 operates) mayhave resources (e.g., processing resources) dedicated to control ofvarious systems, which permit such control to be real-time (e.g., withina known, determinable period of time). Further, the implementation maybe updated by simpler processes, which may permit real-time updates tothe implementation. The real-time updates may permit optimized controlof operations being implemented by a job plan.

The coordinated controller 338 can control issuance of commands to ECsgenerated in response to an actor outside of the ECs' respectivesubsystem virtual networks. Thus, for example, the HMI 340 can issue acommand to one or more ECs in a subsystem through the common data busunder the control of the coordinated controller 338 and through thesubsystem virtual network of that subsystem. For example, a user mayinput commands through the HMI 340 to control an operation of asubsystem. Commands to an EC of a subsystem from an actor outside ofthat subsystem may be prohibited in the operations network 300 withoutthe coordinated controller 338 processing the command. The coordinatedcontroller 338 can implement logic to determine whether a given actor(e.g., the HMI 340 and/or process applications 344) can cause a commandto be issued to a given EC in a subsystem.

The coordinated controller 338 can implement logic to arbitrate commandsthat would control the operation of a particular equipment or subsystem,such as when there are multiple actors (e.g., job plans and/or HMIs)attempting to cause commands to be issued to the same equipment orsubsystem at the same time. The coordinated controller 338 can implementan arbiter (e.g., logic) to determine which of conflicting commands fromHMIs and/or job plans to issue to an EC. For example, if a first jobplan attempts to have a command issued to the EC-SN-1 330 to increase apumping rate of a pump, and a second job plan simultaneously attempts tohave a command issued to the EC-SN-1 330 to decrease the pumping rate ofthe same pump, the arbiter of the coordinated controller 338 can resolvethe conflict and determine which command is permitted to be issued.Additionally, as an example, if two HMIs issue conflicting commandssimultaneously, the coordinated controller 338 can determine whichcommand to prohibit and which command to issue.

The arbiter of the coordinated controller 338 may operate using a hybridfirst in, first served and prioritization scheme. For example, the firstcommand that is issued is permitted to operate to completion or untilthe actor that caused the command to be issued terminates the executionof that command. In some examples, a single, self-contained job planthat is to be executed alone without the execution of another job plancan generally be implemented without generating conflicting commands.However, a job plan may refer to another job plan, which may result inconflicting commands being generated. For example, a job plan for acementing process can refer to a job plan for a drilling process inorder to operate a pump, and by executing the job plan for the cementingprocess that refers to the job plan for the drilling process, multipleconflicting commands may be generated for the pump by operation of thetwo job plans. The arbiter handles these commands by permitting thefirst command that is generated by one of the job plans to be completedor until the generating job plan terminates the first command, eventhough a second subsequent and conflicting command is generated by theother of the job plans. The second command is placed in a queue untilthe first command is completed or terminated by its generating job plan,and then the arbiter permits the second command to be issued andexecuted.

Some actors within the operations network 300 may be assigned a prioritythat permits those actors to interrupt operations and/or commandsregardless of the current state of the process. For example, an HMI canbe assigned a high priority that permits a command from the HMI tointerrupt an operation and/or command that is being executed. Thecommand from the HMI may be executed, despite the current state of theprocess, until the command is completed or terminated by the sendingHMI. After the command from the HMI has been executed, the process mayreturn to its previous state or restart based on new conditions on whichthe job plan and/or implementation of the job plan is based.

FIG. 5 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method (500) for controlling operations of a wellconstruction system, including implementing an arbiter, according to oneor more aspects of the present disclosure. The method (500) may beperformed by, utilizing, or otherwise in association with one or morefeatures depicted in one or more of FIGS. 1-3 described above, one ormore features depicted in FIGS. 7 and/or 9 described below, and/or oneor more features otherwise within the scope of the present disclosure.However, for the sake of simplicity, the method (500) is described belowin the context of the example implementation depicted in FIG. 3 and/orotherwise described above, and a person having ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that the following description of the method (500) isalso applicable or readily adaptable for operations networks other thanthe example operations network 300 depicted in FIG. 3. Also, asdescribed in more detail below, the method (500) may not flow linearlyas illustrated in FIG. 5.

The method (500) includes receiving (502) one or more commands generatedfrom one or more non-prioritized actors. For example, an arbiter canreceive one or more commands that have been generated from one or morejob plans, which may be non-prioritized. The method (500) includesissuing (504) the earliest received, non-issued command. For example,the arbiter can effectively queue commands from non-prioritized actors,and the first command received from a non-prioritized actor is the firstcommand that is issued by the arbiter. The method (500) comprisesexecuting (506) the issued command until the command is completed orterminated by the sending actor. The execution (506) of the issuedcommand may be a discrete, instantaneous function by equipment, afunction performed by equipment over a defined duration, a functionperformed by equipment until defined conditions are met (which may beindicated by the sending actor), and/or other example means ofexecution. The method (500) then loops back to issuing (504) theearliest received, non-issued command. During the issuance (504) and theexecution (506), commands can continue to be received (502) from one ormore non-prioritized actors, which commands are queued for issuance.Hence, the receiving (502), issuing (504), and executing (506) mayimplement a first in, first served type of queue.

During the receiving (502), issuing (504), and executing (506), themethod (500) includes receiving (508) a command from a prioritizedactor. The receipt (508) of a command from a prioritized actorinterrupts the flow of the receiving (502), issuing (504), and executing(506) commands from non-prioritized actors, and hence, the command fromthe prioritized actor has priority over commands from non-prioritizedactors. Example prioritized actors can include HMIs or others. Themethod (500) includes issuing (510) the command received from theprioritized actor, and executing (512) the issued command until thecommand is completed or terminated by the sending actor. The execution(512) of the issued command may be a discrete, instantaneous function byequipment, a function performed by equipment over a defined duration, afunction performed by equipment until defined conditions are met (whichmay be indicated by the sending actor), and/or other example means ofexecution.

After the execution (512) of the command received (508) from theprioritized actor, the method (500) may resume at various instances. Forexample, after the execution (512), the method (500) may resume at theinstance where the receipt (508) of the command from the prioritizedactor interrupted the flow of the receiving (502), issuing (504), andexecuting (506) one or more commands received from one or morenon-prioritized actors. Additionally, the execution (512) of the commandreceived (508) from the prioritized actor can change conditions at thewellsite to an extent that non-prioritized actors withdraw previouslysent commands and begin sending commands that are updated in response tothe conditions that changed as a result of the execution (512) of thecommand from the prioritized actor. Thus, the method (500) may resume atreceiving (502) one or more commands from one or more non-prioritizedactors regardless of the instance when the receipt (508) of the commandfrom the prioritized actor occurred.

In some examples of the implementation of the example method (500) ofFIG. 5, the arbiter receives (502, 508) and issues (504, 510) thecommands, which commands may be received from other logic of thecoordinated controller 338 that implements one or more job plansreceived from one or more process applications 344. The arbiter candetermine which commands the coordinated controller 338 is to issue toone or more ECs, and the ECs may execute (506, 512) the commands bycontrolling various equipment of the well construction system at thewellsite, for example. Other components and/or processing systems canimplement various operations in other examples.

By permitting different subsystems to communicate as described above, asingle clock may be used to synchronize multiple clocks of theprocessing systems of the operations network 300. For example, thecoordinated controller 338 may periodically synchronize the clock of itsone or more processing systems with a clock of a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) or other system. The coordinated controller 338 may thencause clocks of other processing systems of the operations network 300to be synchronized with the clock of the coordinated controller 338.This synchronization process permits time stamps of, e.g., commands andsensor and/or status data to be synchronized to a single clock. This maypermit improved control, in that conversion between clocks may beobviated for issuance of commands, for example. Further, data stored andmaintained on the historian 342, for example, may be interpreted moreeasily by personnel.

When an additional subsystem is added to the operations network 300,and/or when an additional EC is added to an existing subsystem of theoperations network 300, such that the new subsystem and/or EC isconnected to the physical network, the configuration manager 302 mayautomatically instantiate one or more respective objects of thepredefined classes corresponding to the new subsystem and/or EC topermit communications to and from the new subsystem and/or EC to becommunicated through the common data bus. For example, after theoperations network 300 is initiated and begins operation, a new (albeitpredefined in the configuration manager 302) EC may subsequently beconnected to the physical network of the operations network 300. The newEC may be for new equipment that is to become part of an existingsubsystem, for equipment of a new subsystem, and/or for othersituations. For example, a new EC for a new pump may be added to anexisting drilling fluid circulation system, or a new EC for equipmentmay be added to create a new cementing system, among other examples.When the EC becomes connected to the physical network, the EC cancommunicate its presence through the physical network, such as by amulticast or broadcast message. The configuration manager 302 canreceive the communication and, based on this communication (and possiblysubsequent communications with the EC), the configuration manager 302can instantiate a new object based on the type of equipment and/orsubsystem with which the EC is used. After this object is instantiated,the EC can communicate through the common data bus to communicate sensorand/or status data to the common data bus and/or to receive commandsthrough the common data bus.

The new subsystem and/or EC can be segmented into an existing virtualnetwork or in a newly created virtual network. For example, during theset-up of the operations network 300, various unused ports of switchesand/or other network appliances may be mapped to various virtualnetworks (e.g., VLANs), some of which virtual networks may be used uponinitiating the operations network 300, and some of which may beallocated for future use upon initiating the operations network 300. Thenew EC can be connected to a previously unused port that is mapped to avirtual network that is in use for an existing subsystem for the EC tobecome part of that subsystem, or the new EC can be connected to apreviously unused port that is mapped to a virtual network that wasallocated for future use to create a new subsystem. In other exampleimplementations, other segmentation techniques may be used, such asdynamic domain segmentation.

FIG. 6 is a flow-chart diagram of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a method (600) for connecting an EC (and/or similarlyfor connecting a subsystem) to an existing network of a wellconstruction system according to one or more aspects of the presentdisclosure. The method (600) includes connecting (602) the EC to thephysical network of the operations network 300. As described above,connecting (602) the EC can include connecting the EC to an existingport of a network appliance of the operations network 300, which may beconfigured to implement a virtual network.

The method (600) then includes announcing (604), by the EC (or anotherdata processing system, such as one implementing a gateway when used ina different network), its presence on the physical network. The EC canannounce (604) its presence by transmitting a multicast message,broadcast message, and/or other communication through the physicalnetwork. The configuration manager 302 receives the communication fromthe EC announcing (604) its presence, and then, the method (600)includes handshaking (606) between the EC and the configuration manager302. The handshaking (606) can establish a communication channel betweenthe EC and the configuration manager 302 and can further permit the ECto identify itself, such as including a type of equipment and/orsubsystem with which the EC is associated. For example, the EC mayestablish that it is associated with a new pump that is to be a part ofthe existing drilling fluid circulation system.

The method (600) includes determining (608) whether the EC is authorizedto be on the operations network 300. This may be part of the handshaking(606) between the EC and the configuration manager 302. Thedetermination (608) may be based on one or more conditions. Exampleconditions that may cause the EC to be unauthorized can include that theEC and/or its associated equipment may not be recognizable by theconfiguration manager 302; addition of the EC and/or its associatedequipment may exceed a specified number of ECs and/or associatedequipment permitted for a subsystem; operating conditions of the wellconstruction system may prohibit addition of the EC and/or itsassociated equipment; failure by the EC to transmit an authorizationcertificate accepted by the configuration manager; and/or other exampleconditions. If the determination (608) is that the EC is not authorized,the method (600) includes sending (610) an alert from the configurationmanager 302. The alert can be to personnel devices to alert thepersonnel of an unauthorized device being connected to the operationsnetwork 300 and/or to one or more processing systems, such as one ormore network appliances, to lock the EC out of the operations network300. Other actions can also or instead be taken in response to the ECnot being authorized.

If the determination (608) is that the EC is authorized, the method(600) includes instantiating (612) an object for the EC by theconfiguration manager 302. The object can correspond to a type ofsubsystem, control data, and/or sensor and/or status data with which theEC is associated, for example. The object can be in various forms, andcan contain various information. Further, the object can be instantiatedbased on the protocol that the EC implements for communications. Forexample, translations of communications may differ depending on theprotocol implemented between the configuration manager 302 and the EC.The configuration manager 302 may include predefined classes forinstantiating various objects depending on the protocol used tocommunicate with the EC. With the object instantiated (612), the method(600) includes communicating (614) with the EC via the common data bususing the object to translate communications between the common data busand the EC. For example, the EC can communicate sensor and/or statusdata to the common data bus using the object, which data can be consumedby, e.g., the coordinated controller 318, process applications 320,etc., and can receive commands from, e.g., the coordinated controller318 through the common data bus using the object.

By dynamically detecting ECs and/or subsystems, various ECs and/orsubsystems may be added to the well construction system more easily andtransparent to job plan(s) and/or the coordinated controller. This maypermit simpler deployment of the well construction system while beingable to maintain robust communications and rich data throughout thenetwork.

Other configurations of an operations network are also within the scopeof the present disclosure. Different numbers of ECs, different numbersof subsystems and subsystem virtual networks, and different physicaltopologies and connections are also within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Additionally, other example implementations may include oromit an HMI and/or a historian, for example.

As an example subsystem, a drilling fluid circulation system canincorporate one or more ECs that control one or more controllablecomponents. Controllable components in the drilling fluid circulationsystem may include one or more pumps (e.g., pump 142 in FIGS. 1 and 2),a shale shaker (e.g., shale shaker 160), a desilter, a desander, adegasser (e.g., reconditioning equipment 162), a hopper, various valvesthat may be on pipes and/or lines, and other components. For example, apump may be controllable by an EC to increase/decrease a pump rate byincreasing/decreasing revolutions of a prime mover driving the pump,and/or to turn the pump on/off. Similarly, a shale shaker may becontrollable by an EC to increase/decrease vibrations of a grating,and/or to turn on/off the shale shaker. A degasser may be controllableby an EC to increase/decrease a pressure in the degasser byincreasing/decreasing revolutions of a prime mover of a vacuum pump ofthe degasser, and/or to turn on/off the degasser. A hopper may becontrollable by an EC to open/close a valve of the hopper to control therelease of an additive (e.g., caustic soda) into a pipe and/or linethrough which drilling fluid flows. Further, various relief valves, suchas a relief discharge value on a discharge line of a drilling fluidpump, a relief suction valve on an intake or suction line of a drillingfluid pump, or the like, may be controllable by an EC to beopened/closed (such as to relieve pressure). The controllable componentsmay be controlled by a digital signal and/or analog signal from an EC. Aperson of ordinary skill in the art will readily envisage other examplecontrollable components in a drilling fluid circulation system and howsuch components would be controllable by an EC, which are also withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

The drilling fluid circulation system may also incorporate one or moreECs that receive one or more signals from one or more sensors that areindicative of conditions in the drilling fluid circulation system. Theone or more ECs that control one or more controllable components may bethe same as, different from, or a combination therebetween of the one ormore ECs that receive signals from sensors. Example sensors may includevarious flow meters and/or pressure gauges that may be fluidly coupledto various lines and/or pipes through which drilling fluid flows, suchas the discharge line of a drilling fluid pump, the standpipe, thereturn line, the intake line of the drilling fluid pump, around variousequipment, and/or the like. Using flow meters and/or pressure gauges,flow rates and/or pressure differentials may be determined that canindicate a leak in equipment, that a clog in equipment has occurred,that the formation has kicked, that drilling fluid is being lost to theformation, or the like. Various tachometers can be on various pumpsand/or prime movers to measure speed and/or revolutions, such as of adrilling fluid pump, a vacuum pump of a degasser, a motor of an agitatorof a mud tank, or the like. The tachometers can be used to measure thehealth of the respective equipment. A pressure gauge can be on thedegasser to measure a pressure within the degasser. The degasser mayoperate at a predetermined pressure level to adequately remove gas fromdrilling fluid, and a pressure reading from a pressure gauge can be fedback to control the pressure within the degasser. A pit volume totalizercan be in one or more mud tanks to determine an amount of drilling fluidheld by the mud tanks, which can indicate a leak in equipment, that aclog in equipment has occurred, that the formation has kicked, thatdrilling fluid is being lost to the formation, or the like. A viscometercan be along the circulation to measure viscosity of the drilling fluid,which can be used to determine remedial action, such as adding anadditive to the drilling fluid at a hopper. Signals from such sensorscan be sent to and received by one or more ECs, which can then transmitthe sensor data to the common data bus and/or use the data toresponsively control controllable components, for example. The signalsfrom the sensor that are received by an EC may be a digital signaland/or analog signal. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readilyenvisage other example sensors in a drilling fluid circulation systemand how such components would be coupled to an EC, which are also withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

As another example, a rig control system may incorporate one or more ECsthat control one or more controllable components. Controllablecomponents of the hoisting equipment may include a prime mover of thedrawworks, one or more brakes, and others. For example, a prime mover ofthe drawworks may be controllable by an EC to increase/decrease arevolution rate of the prime mover of the drawworks, and/or to turn theprime mover on/off. A mechanical (and/or electronic) brake may becontrollable by an EC to actuate the brake (e.g., a caliper and padassembly) to clamp/release a brake disk of the drawworks, for example.

Controllable components in the drillstring rotary mover equipment mayinclude a prime mover (e.g., including the top drive 116 in FIG. 1and/or the rotary table depicted in FIG. 2), a gearbox and/ortransmission, a pipe handler assembly and/or grabber, a kelly spinner, atorque wrench, mechanized and/or automated slips, and/or others. Forexample, the prime mover may be controllable by an EC toincrease/decrease a revolution rate of the prime mover, and/or to turnthe prime mover on/off. The gearbox and/or transmission may becontrollable by an EC to set and/or change a gear ratio between theprime mover and the drive shaft or master bushing. The pipe handlerassembly and/or grabber can be controllable by an EC to move the pipehandler assembly and/or grabber for receiving, setting, clasping, and/orreleasing a tubular. The kelly spinner can be controllable by an EC torotate a kelly when making up or breaking out a connection between thekelly and the drillstring. The torque wrench can be controllable by anEC to clamp and twist a tubular to make up a connection between thedrive shaft and the tubular. The mechanized and/or automated slips canbe controllable by an EC to open/close the slips.

The controllable components may be controlled by a digital signal and/oranalog signal from an EC. A person of ordinary skill in the art willreadily envisage other example controllable components in a rig controlsystem and how such components would be controllable by an EC, which arealso within the scope of the present disclosure.

The rig control system may also incorporate one or more ECs that receiveone or more signals from one or more sensors that are indicative ofconditions in the rig control system. The one or more ECs that controlone or more controllable components may be the same as, different from,or a combination therebetween of the one or more ECs that receivesignals from sensors. As some examples of sensors, a crown saver can bein a drawworks to determine and indicate when an excessive amount ofdrilling line has been taken in by the drawworks. An excessive amount ofdrilling line being taken in can damage hoisting equipment, such as by atraveling block impacting a crown block, and the signal from the crownsaver can be fed back to indicate when the drawworks should cease takingin drilling line. A WOB sensor can be included on the traveling block,drawworks, deadline, other components/lines, and/or combinationsthereof. The signal from the WOB sensor can be fed back to determine iftoo much or too little weight is on the bit of the drillstring, and inresponse, to determine whether to take in or reel out, respectively,drilling line. Further, a tachometer can be on a prime mover of thedrawworks to measure speed and/or revolutions. The tachometer can beused to measure the health of the prime mover.

As further examples of sensors, various tachometers can be on the primemover and/or drive shaft or master bushing of drillstring rotary moverequipment, and can be used to determine a rate of rotation of therespective prime mover and/or drive shaft or master bushing. Atorque-on-bit sensor can be in a BHA. Various pressure gauges can becoupled to hydraulic systems used for the pipe handler assembly and/orgrabber, the torque wrench, the slips, and/or other components.

Signals from such sensors can be sent to and received by one or moreECs, which can then transmit the sensor data to the common data busand/or use the data to responsively control controllable components, forexample. The signals from the sensor that are received by an EC may be adigital signal and/or analog signal. A person of ordinary skill in theart will readily envisage other example sensors in a rig control systemand how such components would be coupled to an EC, which are also withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand otherexample subsystems that may be in a well construction system, and thatsuch other subsystems are also within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Such other subsystems may include a managed pressuredrilling system, a cementing system, and/or a rig walk system, amongother examples. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readilyunderstand example EC(s), controllable component(s), and/or sensor(s)that can be used in these additional example systems. Additionally, aperson of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand otherexample equipment and components that may be included in or omitted fromexample subsystems described herein.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a first processing system 700 according to one or moreaspects of the present disclosure. The first processing system 700 mayexecute example machine-readable instructions to implement at least aportion of the configuration manager, coordinated controller, virtualnetworks, HMI, and/or historian described herein.

The first processing system 700 may be or comprise, for example, one ormore processors, controllers, special-purpose computing devices,industrial computers, servers, personal computers, internet appliances,PLCs, and/or other types of computing devices. Moreover, while it ispossible that the entirety of the first processing system 700 shown inFIG. 7 is implemented within one device, e.g., in the control center 198of FIGS. 1 and 2, it is also contemplated that one or more components orfunctions of the first processing system 700 may be implemented acrossmultiple devices, some or an entirety of which may be at the wellsiteand/or remote from the wellsite of the well construction systems 100 and250 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively.

The first processing system 700 comprises a processor 712 such as, forexample, a general-purpose programmable processor. The processor 712 maycomprise a local memory 714, and may execute program code instructions732 present in the local memory 714 and/or in another memory device. Theprocessor 712 may execute, among other things, machine-readableinstructions or programs to implement the configuration manager,coordinated controller, process applications, and/or virtual networksdescribed herein, for example. The programs stored in the local memory714 may include program instructions or computer program code that, whenexecuted by an associated processor, permit, cause, and/or embodyimplementation of the configuration manager, the coordinated controller,the virtual networks, an HMI, the process applications, and/or thehistorian as described herein. The processor 712 may be, comprise, or beimplemented by one or more processors of various types operable in thelocal application environment, and may include one or moregeneral-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, microprocessors,digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), processorsbased on a multi-core processor architecture, and/or other processors.Examples of the processor 712 may include one or more INTELmicroprocessors, microcontrollers from the ARM and/or PICO families ofmicrocontrollers, and/or embedded soft/hard processors in one or moreFPGAs, among other examples.

The processor 712 may be in communication with a main memory 717, suchas via a bus 722 and/or other communication means. The main memory 717may comprise a volatile memory 718 and a non-volatile memory 720. Thevolatile memory 718 may be, comprise, or be implemented by a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as random access memory (RAM),static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic random accessmemory (SDRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), RAMBUS dynamicrandom access memory (RDRAM), and/or other types of random access memorydevices. The non-volatile memory 720 may be, comprise, or be implementedby a tangible, non-transitory storage medium, such as read-only memory(ROM), flash memory, and/or other types of memory devices. One or morememory controllers (not shown) may control access to the volatile memory718 and/or the non-volatile memory 720.

The first processing system 700 may also comprise an interface circuit724 in communication with the processor 712, such as via the bus 722.The interface circuit 724 may be, comprise, or be implemented by varioustypes of standard interfaces, such as an Ethernet interface, a universalserial bus (USB) interface, a third generation input/output (3GIO)interface, a wireless interface, a BLUETOOTH interface, and/or acellular interface, among other examples. One or more ECs (e.g., EC 740through EC 742 as depicted) are communicatively coupled to the interfacecircuit 724, such as when the first processing system 700 is implementedas a network appliance, such as a switch, in the operations network. Theinterface circuit 724 may permit communications between the firstprocessing system 700 and one or more ECs by one or more communicationprotocols, such as an Ethernet-based network protocol (such as ProfiNET,OPC, OPC/UA, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDP multicast, Siemens S7communication, and/or others), a proprietary communication protocol,and/or another communication protocol. The interface circuit 724 mayalso comprise a communication device such as a modem or networkinterface card to facilitate exchange of data with external computingdevices via a network, such as via Ethernet connection, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), telephone line, coaxial cable, cellular telephonesystem, and/or satellite, among other examples.

One or more input devices 726 may be connected to the interface circuit724 and permit a user to enter data and/or commands for utilization bythe processor 712. Each input device 726 may be, comprise, or beimplemented by one or more instances of a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, a joystick, a control switch or toggle, a button, atrack-pad, a trackball, an image/code scanner, and/or a voicerecognition system, among other examples.

One or more output devices 728 may also be connected to the interfacecircuit 724. The output device 728 may be, comprise, or be implementedby a display device, such as an LCD, an LED display, and/or a CRTdisplay, among other examples. The interface circuit 724 may alsocomprise a graphics driver card to permit use of a display device as oneor more of the output devices 728. One or more of the output devices 728may also or instead be, comprise, or be implemented by one or moreinstances of an LED, a printer, a speaker, and/or other examples.

The one or more input devices 726 and the one or more output devices 728connected to the interface circuit 724 may, at least in part, enable theHMI described above with respect to FIG. 3. The input device(s) 726 maypermit entry of commands to the coordinated controller, and the outputdevice(s) 728 may permit visualization or other sensory perception ofvarious data, such as sensor data, status data, and/or other exampledata.

The first processing system 700 may also comprise a mass storage device730 for storing machine-readable instructions and data. The mass storagedevice 730 may be connected to the processor 712, such as via the bus722. The mass storage device 730 may be or comprise a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as a floppy disk drive, a hard diskdrive, a compact disk (CD) drive, and/or digital versatile disk (DVD)drive, among other examples. The program code instructions 732 may bestored in the mass storage device 730, the volatile memory 718, thenon-volatile memory 720, the local memory 714, a removable storagemedium (such as a CD, a DVD, and/or another external storage medium 734connected to the interface circuit 724), and/or another storage medium.

The modules and/or other components of the first processing system 700may be implemented in accordance with hardware (such as in one or moreintegrated circuit chips, such as an ASIC), or may be implemented assoftware or firmware for execution by a processor. In the case ofsoftware or firmware, the implementation can be provided as a computerprogram product including a computer readable medium or storagestructure containing computer program code (i.e., software or firmware)for execution by the processor.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of at least a portion of an exampleimplementation of a second processing system 800 according to one ormore aspects of the present disclosure. The second processing system 800may execute example machine-readable instructions to implement at leasta portion of an EC as described herein.

The second processing system 800 may be or comprise, for example, one ormore processors, controllers, special-purpose computing devices,servers, personal computers, internet appliances, and/or other types ofcomputing devices. Moreover, while it is possible that the entirety ofthe second processing system 800 shown in FIG. 8 is implemented withinone device, it is also contemplated that one or more components orfunctions of the second processing system 800 may be implemented acrossmultiple devices, some or an entirety of which may be at the wellsiteand/or remote from the wellsite of the well construction systems 100 and250 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively.

The second processing system 800 comprises a processor 810 such as, forexample, a general-purpose programmable processor. The processor 810 maycomprise a local memory 812, and may execute program code instructions840 present in the local memory 812 and/or in another memory device. Theprocessor 810 may execute, among other things, machine-readableinstructions or programs to implement logic for monitoring and/orcontrolling one or more components of a well construction system. Theprograms stored in the local memory 812 may include program instructionsor computer program code that, when executed by an associated processor,enable monitoring and/or controlling one or more components of a wellconstruction system. The processor 810 may be, comprise, or beimplemented by one or more processors of various types operable in thelocal application environment, and may include one or moregeneral-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, microprocessors,DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, processors based on a multi-core processorarchitecture, and/or other processors.

The processor 810 may be in communication with a main memory 814, suchas via a bus 822 and/or other communication means. The main memory 814may comprise a volatile memory 816 and a non-volatile memory 818. Thevolatile memory 816 may be, comprise, or be implemented by a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as RAM, SRAM, SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM,and/or other types of random access memory devices. The non-volatilememory 818 may be, comprise, or be implemented by a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, flash memory, and/or othertypes of memory devices. One or more memory controllers (not shown) maycontrol access to the volatile memory 816 and/or the non-volatile memory818.

The second processing system 800 may also comprise an interface circuit824 in communication with the processor 810, such as via the bus 822.The interface circuit 824 may be, comprise, or be implemented by varioustypes of standard interfaces, such as an Ethernet interface, a USBinterface, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface, and a3GIO interface, among other examples. One or more other processingsystem 850 (e.g., the first processing system 700 of FIG. 7) arecommunicatively coupled to the interface circuit 824. The interfacecircuit 824 can enable communications between the second processingsystem 800 and one or more other processing system (e.g., a networkappliance, the processing system of the configuration manager 302, oranother processing system in FIG. 3) by enabling one or morecommunication protocols, such as an Ethernet-based network protocol(such as ProfiNET, OPC, OPC/UA, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDP multicast,Siemens S7 communication, and/or others), a proprietary communicationprotocol, and/or another communication protocol.

One or more input devices 826 may be connected to the interface circuit824 and permit a user to enter data and/or commands for utilization bythe processor 810. Each input device 826 may be, comprise, or beimplemented by one or more instances of a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, a joystick, a control switch or toggle, a button, atrack-pad, a trackball, an image/code scanner, and/or a voicerecognition system, among other examples.

One or more output devices 828 may also be connected to the interfacecircuit 824. The output device 828 may be, comprise, or be implementedby a display device, such as an LCD and/or an LED display, among otherexamples. The interface circuit 824 may also comprise a graphics drivercard to enable use of a display device as one or more of the outputdevices 828. One or more of the output devices 828 may also or insteadbe, comprise, or be implemented by one or more instances of an LED, aprinter, a speaker, and/or other examples.

The second processing system 800 may comprise a shared memory 830 incommunication with the processor 810, such as via the bus 822. Theshared memory 830 may be, comprise, or be implemented by a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as RAM, SRAM, SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM,and/or other types of random access memory devices.

The second processing system 800 may comprise one or more analog input(AI) interface circuits 832, one or more digital input (DI) interfacecircuits 834, one or more analog output (AO) interface circuits 836,and/or one or more digital output (DO) interface circuits 838, each ofwhich may be in communication with the shared memory 830. The AIinterface circuit 832 may include one or multiple inputs, and mayconvert an analog signal received on an input into digital data useableby the processor 810, for example. The DI interface circuit 834 mayinclude one or multiple inputs, and may receive a discrete signal (e.g.,on/off signal), which may be useable by the processor 810. The AIinterface circuit 832 and the DI interface circuit 834 arecommunicatively coupled to the shared memory 830, where the AI interfacecircuit 832 and DI interface circuit 834 can cache and/or queue inputdata and from which the processor 810 can access the data. The inputs ofthe AI interface circuit 832 and the DI interface circuit 834 arecommunicatively coupled to outputs of various sensors (e.g., analogoutput sensor 852 and digital output sensor 854), devices, components,etc., in a well construction system. The AI interface circuit 832 andthe DI interface circuit 834 can be used to receive, interpret, and/orreformat sensor data and monitor the status of one or more components,such as by receiving analog signals and discrete signals, respectively,of the various sensors, devices, components, etc., in the wellconstruction system.

The AO interface circuit 836 may include one or multiple outputs tooutput analog signals, which may be converted from digital data providedby the processor 810 and temporarily stored in the shared memory 830,for example. The DO interface circuit 838 may include one or multipleoutputs, and can output a discrete signal (e.g., on/off signal), whichmay be provided by the processor 810 and temporarily stored in theshared memory 830, for example. The AO interface circuit 836 and the DOinterface circuit 838 are communicatively coupled to the shared memory830. The outputs of the AO interface circuit 836 and the DO interfacecircuit 838 are communicatively coupled to inputs of various devices,components, etc., such as one or more analog input controllablecomponents 856 and/or one or more digital input controllable components858, in a well construction system. The AO interface circuit 836 and theDO interface circuit 838 can be used to control the operation of one ormore components, such as by providing analog signals and discretesignals, respectively, to the various devices, components, etc., in thewell construction system.

The second processing system 800 may also comprise a mass storage device839 for storing machine-readable instructions and data. The mass storagedevice 839 may be connected to the processor 810, such as via the bus822. The mass storage device 839 may be or comprise a tangible,non-transitory storage medium, such as a floppy disk drive, a hard diskdrive, a CD drive, and/or DVD drive, among other examples. The programcode instructions 840 may be stored in the mass storage device 839, thevolatile memory 816, the non-volatile memory 818, the local memory 812,a removable storage medium, such as a CD or DVD, and/or another storagemedium.

The modules and/or other components of the second processing system 800may be implemented in accordance with hardware (such as in one or moreintegrated circuit chips, such as an ASIC), or may be implemented assoftware or firmware for execution by a processor. In the case ofsoftware or firmware, the implementation can be provided as a computerprogram product including a computer readable medium or storagestructure containing computer program code (i.e., software or firmware)for execution by the processor.

In view of the entirety of the present disclosure, including the figuresand the claims, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readilyrecognize that the present disclosure introduces an apparatus comprisinga first processing system comprising a processor and a memory includingcomputer program code, wherein the first processing system is operableto: (A) receive a job plan developed by a second processing system; (B)implement the job plan comprising generating commands for one or moreequipment controllers based on the job plan, wherein the one or moreequipment controllers are operable to control equipment of a wellconstruction system; (C) transmit, through a network, the commands tothe one or more equipment controllers for execution of the commands bythe one or more equipment controllers; and (D) iteratively: (i) monitor,through the network, current conditions of the well construction systemduring execution of commands by the one or more equipment controllers;(ii) update the implementation of the job plan comprising generatingupdated commands for the one or more equipment controllers based on thejob plan and on the current conditions of the well construction systemwhen the current conditions of the well construction system indicate adeviation from the implementation; and (iii) transmit, through thenetwork, the updated commands to the one or more equipment controllersfor execution of the updated commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers.

The first processing system may comprise dedicated resources comprisingat least a portion of the processor and at least a portion of thememory, and the dedicated resources may be dedicated to monitoring thecurrent conditions of the well construction system, updating theimplementation, and transmitting the updated commands.

The job plan may include a generalized operation with definedconstraints of parameters of the generalized operation.

The apparatus may comprise the second processing system comprising aprocessor and a memory including computer program code, and the secondprocessing system may be operable to: (A) develop the job plan based onthe current conditions of the well construction system; (B) transmit thejob plan to the first processing system; and (C) iteratively: (i)monitor, through the network, the current conditions of the wellconstruction system during execution of the commands by the one or moreequipment controllers; (ii) update the job plan when the currentconditions of the well construction system indicate a deviation from thejob plan; and (iii) transmit the updated job plan to the firstprocessing system.

The apparatus may comprise the network, the network may comprise acommon data bus, the current conditions of the well construction systemmay be made available via the common data bus, and the first processingsystem may be operable to monitor the current conditions of the wellconstruction system via the common data bus. The apparatus may furthercomprise a third processing system communicatively coupled to thenetwork and comprising a processor and a memory including computerprogram code, wherein the third processing system is operable totranslate communications between the common data bus and the one or moreequipment controllers, and wherein the communications include commandsand the current conditions of the well construction system. The thirdprocessing system may be operable to translate the communicationsbetween one or more of a plurality of predetermined protocols and acommon protocol used on the common data bus. The predetermined protocolsmay include two or more selected from the group consisting of ProfiNET,OPC, OPC/UA, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDP multicast, and Siemens S7communication, and the common protocol may be a DDS protocol.

The current conditions of the well construction system may include or beindicated by sensor data, status data, or a combination thereofcommunicated from the one or more equipment controllers.

The equipment of the well construction system may be selected from thegroup consisting of equipment of a drilling rig control system,equipment of a drilling fluid circulation system, equipment of a managedpressure drilling system, equipment of a cementing system, and equipmentof a rig walk system.

The present disclosure also introduces an apparatus comprising: (A) anetwork; (B) one or more equipment controllers communicatively coupledto the network and operable to control equipment of a well constructionsystem; (C) a first processing system communicatively coupled to thenetwork and comprising a processor and a memory including computerprogram code, wherein the first processing system is operable to: (i)develop a job plan based on current conditions of the well constructionsystem; and (ii) transmit the job plan through the network; and (D) asecond processing system communicatively coupled to the network andcomprising a processor and a memory including computer program code,wherein the second processing system is operable to: (i) receive the jobplan through the network; (ii) implement the job plan comprisinggenerating commands for the one or more equipment controllers based onthe job plan; (iii) transmit, through the network, the commands to theone or more equipment controllers for execution of the commands by theone or more equipment controllers; and (iv) iteratively: (a) monitor,through the network, the current conditions of the well constructionsystem during execution of commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers; (b) update the implementation of the job plan comprisinggenerating updated commands for the one or more equipment controllersbased on the job plan and on the current conditions of the wellconstruction system when the current conditions of the well constructionsystem indicate a deviation from the implementation; and (c) transmit,through the network, the updated commands to the one or more equipmentcontrollers for execution of the updated commands by the one or moreequipment controllers.

The second processing system may comprise dedicated resources comprisingat least a portion of the processor and at least a portion of thememory, wherein the dedicated resources may be dedicated to monitoringthe current conditions of the well construction system, updating theimplementation, and transmitting the updated commands.

The job plan may include a generalized operation with definedconstraints of parameters of the generalized operation.

The first processing system may be operable to iteratively: monitor,through the network, the current conditions of the well constructionsystem during execution of the commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers; update the job plan when the current conditions of the wellconstruction system indicate a deviation from the job plan; and transmitthe updated job plan through the network.

The network may comprise a common data bus, the current conditions ofthe well construction system may be made available via the common databus, and the second processing system may be operable to monitor thecurrent conditions of the well construction system via the common databus. The apparatus may further comprise a third processing systemcommunicatively coupled to the network and comprising a processor and amemory including computer program code, the third processing system maybe operable to translate communications between the common data bus andthe one or more equipment controllers, and the communications mayinclude commands and the current conditions of the well constructionsystem. The third processing system may be operable to translate thecommunications between one or more of a plurality of predeterminedprotocols and a common protocol used on the common data bus. Thepredetermined protocols may include two or more selected from the groupconsisting of ProfiNET, OPC, OPC/UA, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDPmulticast, and Siemens S7 communication, and the common protocol may bea DDS protocol.

The current conditions of the well construction system may include or beindicated by sensor data, status data, or a combination thereofcommunicated from the one or more equipment controllers.

The equipment of the well construction system may be selected from thegroup consisting of equipment of a drilling rig control system,equipment of a drilling fluid circulation system, equipment of a managedpressure drilling system, equipment of a cementing system, and equipmentof a rig walk system.

The present disclosure also introduces a method comprising operating afirst processing system comprising a processor and a memory includingcomputer program code, wherein operating the first processing systemcomprises: (A) receiving a job plan developed by a second processingsystem; (B) implementing the job plan comprising generating commands forone or more equipment controllers based on the job plan, wherein the oneor more equipment controllers are operable to control equipment of awell construction system; (C) transmitting, through a network, thecommands to the one or more equipment controllers for execution of thecommands by the one or more equipment controllers; and (D) iteratively:(i) monitoring, through the network, current conditions of the wellconstruction system during execution of commands by the one or moreequipment controllers; (ii) updating the implementation of the job plancomprising generating updated commands for the one or more equipmentcontrollers based on the job plan and on the current conditions of thewell construction system when the current conditions of the wellconstruction system indicate a deviation from the implementation; and(iii) transmitting, through the network, the updated commands to the oneor more equipment controllers for execution of the updated commands bythe one or more equipment controllers.

The first processing system may comprise dedicated resources comprisingat least a portion of the processor and at least a portion of thememory, wherein the dedicated resources may be dedicated to monitoringthe current conditions of the well construction system, updating theimplementation, and transmitting the updated commands.

The job plan may include a generalized operation with definedconstraints of parameters of the generalized operation.

The method may comprise operating the second processing system, whichcomprises a processor and a memory including computer program code,wherein operating the second processing system may comprise: (A)developing the job plan based on the current conditions of the wellconstruction system; (B) transmitting the job plan to the firstprocessing system; and (C) iteratively: (i) monitoring, through thenetwork, the current conditions of the well construction system duringexecution of the commands by the one or more equipment controllers; (ii)updating the job plan when the current conditions of the wellconstruction system indicate a deviation from the job plan; and (iii)transmitting the updated job plan to the first processing system.

The network may comprise a common data bus, the current conditions ofthe well construction system may be made available via the common databus, and monitoring the current conditions of the well constructionsystem by the first processing system may be via the common data bus.The method may further comprise operating a third processing systemcommunicatively coupled to the network and comprising a processor and amemory including computer program code, wherein operating the thirdprocessing system may comprise translating communications between thecommon data bus and the one or more equipment controllers, and whereinthe communications may include commands and the current conditions ofthe well construction system. The third processing system may beoperable to translate the communications between one or more of aplurality of predetermined protocols and a common protocol used on thecommon data bus. The predetermined protocols may include two or moreselected from the group consisting of ProfiNET, OPC, OPC/UA, ModbusTCP/IP, EtherCAT, UDP multicast, and Siemens S7 communication, and thecommon protocol may be a DDS protocol.

The current conditions of the well construction system may include or beindicated by sensor data, status data, or a combination thereofcommunicated from the one or more equipment controllers.

The equipment of the well construction system may be selected from thegroup consisting of equipment of a drilling rig control system,equipment of a drilling fluid circulation system, equipment of a managedpressure drilling system, equipment of a cementing system, and equipmentof a rig walk system.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that a personhaving ordinary skill in the art may better understand the aspects ofthe present disclosure. A person having ordinary skill in the art shouldappreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basisfor designing or modifying other processes and structures for carryingout the same functions and/or achieving the same benefits of theembodiments introduced herein. A person having ordinary skill in the artshould also realize that such equivalent constructions do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they maymake various changes, substitutions and alterations herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The Abstract at the end of this disclosure is provided to permit thereader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Itis submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

1. An apparatus comprising: a first processing system comprising aprocessor and a memory including computer program code, wherein thefirst processing system is operable to: receive a job plan developed bya second processing system; and implement the job plan comprisinggenerating commands for one or more equipment controllers based on thejob plan, wherein the one or more equipment controllers are operable tocontrol equipment of a well construction system; transmit, through anetwork, the commands to the one or more equipment controllers forexecution of the commands by the one or more equipment controllers; anditeratively: monitor, through the network, current conditions of thewell construction system during execution of commands by the one or moreequipment controllers; update the implementation of the job plancomprising generating updated commands for the one or more equipmentcontrollers based on the job plan and on the current conditions of thewell construction system when the current conditions of the wellconstruction system indicate a deviation from the implementation; andtransmit, through the network, the updated commands to the one or moreequipment controllers for execution of the updated commands by the oneor more equipment controllers.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thefirst processing system comprises dedicated resources comprising atleast a portion of the processor and at least a portion of the memory,and wherein the dedicated resources are dedicated to monitoring thecurrent conditions of the well construction system, updating theimplementation, and transmitting the updated commands.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the job plan includes a generalized operation withdefined constraints of parameters of the generalized operation.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 further comprising the second processing system,wherein the second processing system comprises a processor and a memoryincluding computer program code, and wherein the second processingsystem is operable to: develop the job plan based on the currentconditions of the well construction system; transmit the job plan to thefirst processing system; and iteratively: monitor, through the network,the current conditions of the well construction system during executionof the commands by the one or more equipment controllers; update the jobplan when the current conditions of the well construction systemindicate a deviation from the job plan; and transmit the updated jobplan to the first processing system.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising the network, wherein: the network comprises a common databus; the current conditions of the well construction system are madeavailable via the common data bus; and the first processing system isoperable to monitor the current conditions of the well constructionsystem via the common data bus.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 furthercomprising a third processing system communicatively coupled to thenetwork and comprising a processor and a memory including computerprogram code, wherein the third processing system is operable totranslate communications between the common data bus and the one or moreequipment controllers, and wherein the communications include commandsand the current conditions of the well construction system.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6 wherein the third processing system is operable totranslate the communications between one or more of a plurality ofpredetermined protocols and a common protocol used on the common databus.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the current conditions of thewell construction system include or are indicated by sensor data, statusdata, or a combination thereof communicated from the one or moreequipment controllers.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the equipmentof the well construction system is selected from the group consisting ofequipment of a drilling rig control system, equipment of a drillingfluid circulation system, equipment of a managed pressure drillingsystem, equipment of a cementing system, and equipment of a rig walksystem.
 10. An apparatus comprising: a network; one or more equipmentcontroller communicatively coupled to the network and operable tocontrol equipment of a well construction system; a first processingsystem communicatively coupled to the network and comprising a processorand a memory including computer program code, wherein the firstprocessing system is operable to: develop a job plan based on currentconditions of the well construction system; and transmit the job planthrough the network; and a second processing system communicativelycoupled to the network and comprising a processor and a memory includingcomputer program code, wherein the second processing system is operableto: receive the job plan through the network; implement the job plancomprising generating commands for the one or more equipment controllersbased on the job plan; transmit, through the network, the commands tothe one or more equipment controllers for execution of the commands bythe one or more equipment controllers; and iteratively: monitor, throughthe network, the current conditions of the well construction systemduring execution of commands by the one or more equipment controllers;update the implementation of the job plan comprising generating updatedcommands for the one or more equipment controllers based on the job planand on the current conditions of the well construction system when thecurrent conditions of the well construction system indicate a deviationfrom the implementation; and transmit, through the network, the updatedcommands to the one or more equipment controllers for execution of theupdated commands by the one or more equipment controllers.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10 wherein the second processing system comprisesdedicated resources comprising at least a portion of the processor andat least a portion of the memory, and wherein the dedicated resourcesare dedicated to monitoring the current conditions of the wellconstruction system, updating the implementation, and transmitting theupdated commands.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the firstprocessing system is operable to iteratively: monitor, through thenetwork, the current conditions of the well construction system duringexecution of the commands by the one or more equipment controllers;update the job plan when the current conditions of the well constructionsystem indicate a deviation from the job plan; and transmit the updatedjob plan through the network.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein thenetwork comprises a common data bus; the current conditions of the wellconstruction system are made available via the common data bus; and thesecond processing system is operable to monitor the current conditionsof the well construction system via the common data bus.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13 further comprising a third processing systemcommunicatively coupled to the network and comprising a processor and amemory including computer program code, wherein the third processingsystem is operable to translate communications between the common databus and the one or more equipment controllers, and wherein thecommunications include commands and the current conditions of the wellconstruction system.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the thirdprocessing system is operable to translate the communications betweenone or more of a plurality of predetermined protocols and a commonprotocol used on the common data bus.
 16. A method comprising: operatinga first processing system comprising a processor and a memory includingcomputer program code, wherein operating the first processing systemcomprises: receiving a job plan developed by a second processing system;and implementing the job plan comprising generating commands for one ormore equipment controllers based on the job plan, wherein the one ormore equipment controllers are operable to control equipment of a wellconstruction system; transmitting, through a network, the commands tothe one or more equipment controllers for execution of the commands bythe one or more equipment controllers; and iteratively: monitoring,through the network, current conditions of the well construction systemduring execution of commands by the one or more equipment controllers;updating the implementation of the job plan comprising generatingupdated commands for the one or more equipment controllers based on thejob plan and on the current conditions of the well construction systemwhen the current conditions of the well construction system indicate adeviation from the implementation; and transmitting, through thenetwork, the updated commands to the one or more equipment controllersfor execution of the updated commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first processingsystem comprises dedicated resources comprising at least a portion ofthe processor and at least a portion of the memory, and wherein thededicated resources are dedicating to monitoring the current conditionsof the well construction system, updating the implementation, andtransmitting the updated commands.
 18. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising operating the second processing system comprising a processorand a memory including computer program code, wherein operating thesecond processing system comprises: developing the job plan based on thecurrent conditions of the well construction system; transmitting the jobplan to the first processing system; and iteratively: monitoring,through the network, the current conditions of the well constructionsystem during execution of the commands by the one or more equipmentcontrollers; updating the job plan when the current conditions of thewell construction system indicate a deviation from the job plan; andtransmitting the updated job plan to the first processing system. 19.The method of claim 16 wherein: the network comprises a common data bus;the current conditions of the well construction system are madeavailable via the common data bus; and monitoring the current conditionsof the well construction system by the first processing system is viathe common data bus.
 20. The method of claim 19 further comprisingoperating a third processing system communicatively coupled to thenetwork and comprising a processor and a memory including computerprogram code, wherein operating the third processing system comprisestranslating communications between the common data bus and the one ormore equipment controllers, and wherein the communications includecommands and the current conditions of the well construction system.